The Sony Cyber-shot RX10 Mark IV is an ultra-zoom bridge camera with a 25x optical zoom lens. The Mark IV updates the Mark III, with an updated processing engine to give 24fps continuous shooting, and phase-detection focus is built-in to the sensor, to give the World's fastest AF performance, of 0.03s. The camera has Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth built-in.

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Sony Cyber-shot RX10 Mark IV Features

The Sony Cyber-shot RX10 Mark IV is a premium priced ultra-zoom bridge camera with a bright Zeiss 25x optical zoom lens that gives the equivalent of a 24-600mm telephoto zoom lens, with an f/2.4 to f/4.0 aperture. Optical SteadyShot (optical image stabilisation) ensures sharp photos when shooting in low light or when using lots of optical zoom. You can focus on subjects just 3cm from the front of the lens when shooting macro photos.

The 20 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor used in the RX10 IV is the latest version of Sony's 1inch sensor, with phase detection built-in to the sensor, and is a "Stacked" design, which enables faster sensor readout, including high-speed video, and 24fps continuous shooting. Other benefits of the sensor include:

• Super fast electronic shutter (1/32000s)
• Super slow motion up to 1000fps (max 4 or 6 seconds)
• 4K movie with full pixel read-out without pixel binning
• Simultaneous still image recording up to 17MP during movie recording
• 24fps high-speed continuous shooting without display blackout
• Anti-distortion shutter

If you're looking for an ultra-zoom camera, with a larger than normal 1inch sensor, then there are a number of alternatives to consider, all featuring a 20-megapixel 1inch sensor. Compared to the Canon Powershot G3 X, Panasonic Lumix FZ2000, and the previous model, the RX10 Mark III. 

The camera offers an automatic shooting mode, numerous scene modes, plus full manual controls so that you have control over the shutter and aperture speeds. There is a manual aperture ring available around the lens, and this can be switched to clickless if required. There is side access to the memory card slot, which accepts either Sony Memory Sticks or SD / SDHC / SDXC cards.

The weather-sealed body resembles a Digital SLR (with a top LCD screen as well), and the camera has a weight of 1095g (with battery and memory card). The camera features diffraction-reducing technology, designed to maintain clarity even when using smaller apertures. Sony has also worked on the image processing, to improve image quality when using the telephoto zoom lens.

Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth is built-in so that you can connect the camera to your smartphone or tablet using Sony PlayMemories Mobile (available for Android and iOS). 

4K video is available at 30/25/24fps* with optical zoom and stereo sound, and you'll also find microphone and headphone sockets on the side. High-speed video is available at 250fps (1824 x 1026), 500fps (1676 x 566) and 1000fps (1136 x 384), for a limited amount of time, which can be extended when shooting at a lower resolution.

* Frame rate options available change depending on whether you select NTSC or PAL.

Key Features

• 20.1 megapixel 1inch BSI CMOS sensor
• 25x optical zoom lens, f/2.4-4.0, Optical Steadyshot
• 24-600mm equivalent in 35mm terms
• Tilting 3inch 1440K dot touch-screen
• Electronic Viewfinder (XGA OLED), 2359K dot, 0.70x
• 325 AF points (Phase-detection AF)
• 24fps continuous shooting
• 3cm close macro performance
• Electronic shutter (up to 1/32000s)
• 4K UHD video recording (3840x2160)
• High-speed video recording (up to 1000fps)
• ISO100 to ISO25600
• Triple lens ring (focus, aperture, zoom)
• Dust and moisture resistance
• Wi-Fi / NFC / Bluetooth connectivity

Sony Cyber-shot RX10 Mark IV Handling

Build quality and handling of the RX10 Mark IV is excellent with the camera featuring a large rubber hand grip surrounding the right-hand side where you hold the camera, and on the back, this continues all the way round to where there is a shaped area for your thumb to grip. Above the thumb is where you'll find the exposure compensation dial. Holding the camera with two hands is recommended due to the size and weight of the camera which is 1095g (including battery and memory card). The left-hand side of the camera (viewed from the rear) also features a rubberised grip that goes round to the front of the camera. There is also a focus hold button on the left-hand side of the lens, plus a new focus limiter switch.

The focus switch has been updated, and now includes A (Automatic), in addition to Single, Continuous, DMF, and MF. 

The camera features one custom mode ("Memory Recall"), plus an "HFR" mode, which stands for High Frame Rate (Video) on the mode dial. The delete button is customisable as the third custom button (C3), with two customisable custom buttons on top (C1 and C2). The 4-way direction pad on the rear can also be customised, along with the AEL button, and control wheel on the back. 

Surrounding the lens is the focus ring, zoom ring, and a manual aperture ring. The zoom ring controls the power zoom lens, and the aperture ring lets you set the aperture between f/2.8 and f/16, making the camera feel like a more traditional camera. In addition, the aperture clicks can be switched off, letting you smoothly and silently change aperture during video recording. You can set the shutter speed using the rear scroll wheel, for manual control over exposure. Markings on the lens barrel show the focal length at a glance.

The top left of the camera features the mode dial, and the camera features a sensor plane marking so you know where the sensor sits in the camera. On this side, you'll also find the covered microphone and headphone sockets, as well as the Multi(USB) connection and HDMI port. The Sony multi-interface hotshoe means the camera is compatible with a number of Sony accessories.

A small pop-up flash is included, as well as a good size LCD screen (with illumination button above it), which gives shooting information, as well as remaining shots and battery life. The shutter release features a thread for a screw in shutter release cable, and there is a zoom rocker surrounding the shutter release button, with the on/off switch behind. 

Menus – The camera has updated menus, which hasn't really improved the menus that much. Some of the menu screens show only one item on a page, and you have 14 pages of menu items for Photo1 (the RX10 III had 9 pages), so it can take some time to scroll through all the items to find what you want, and the menus could do with tidying up. For example, why not put all the video options under a "Video" section? One nice feature is that you can put all of your favourite settings under "MyMenu". 

The function button brings up a set of options on the screen, that can be quickly changed without having to go into the menu system, and these options can be customised.

On the back, the tilting rear screen has a high resolution of 1440K dots and is clear to see, with a recessed gap to make it easier to pull the screen out when you want to tilt it. The electronic viewfinder features a 2360k dot resolution, dioptre correction, as well as an eye-detection sensor so that when it's held up to your eye it will automatically switch to the viewfinder. The viewfinder is clear and bright and updates smoothly and is of a good size, even when wearing glasses.

The focus point can be set over a wide area of the screen, almost into the far corners, and you can use the touch-screen to set the focus position. The phase detection area has 325 focus points, covers 65% of the frame, and is marked with rounded corners on-screen. 

Wi-Fi features - The camera features NFC (Near Field Communication), low-power Bluetooth and built-in Wi-Fi so that you can simply touch the camera to a compatible NFC enabled smartphone to setup the connection. The Sony PlayMemories Mobile app will then allow you to remotely control the camera, as well as download and share photos from the device. 

Sony PlayMemories Apps are no longer available. This seems to have disappeared from a number of recent Sony cameras, with no explanation. However, considering the apps cost money, for features that other cameras have built-in, it's no great shame. Assuming that Sony start building these features into future cameras.  

Battery life - Battery life is rated at 400 shots according to Sony / CIPA test results, which is a slight drop in the number possible, however, it will also depend on how much you shoot with flash, or how much you use continuous shooting. The camera battery is charged using a MicroUSB cable with the battery in the camera. This means you can easily find somewhere to plug in and charge the camera, although if you wanted to charge a spare battery you'd need to buy a separate charger.